On May 6, 2022, the SEC announced a total award of nearly $3.5 million to four whistleblowers — three joint whistleblowers (Claimant 1) and one individual (Claimant 2) regarding a covered and related action. Claimant 1's information caused the SEC to open a new investigation that led to a successful enforcement action and also led to another agency's success in a related action. The SEC awarded Claimant 1 more than $2.8 million for the whistleblower's assistance on the covered and related actions. While Claimant 2's award was initially denied by the Claims Review Staff, the SEC ultimately awarded $600,000 for their independent analysis of publicly available information. The SEC called Claimant 2's analysis "the result of unusual effort and intensive research over the course of many weeks," and noted the information revealed allegations not previously known. But the SEC denied Claimant 2 any award for assistance on the related action, as that investigation was opened based only on Claimant 1's information, and also because Claimant 2 did not significantly contribute to the related action.
On April 25, 2022, the SEC announced a total award of $6 million to two groups of whistleblowers (totaling five individuals) who provided information and assistance in a single action. The first group provided key documents that led the staff to request additional documents from the respondent. The first group also provided ongoing assistance to the staff, helping the staff to understand the respondent's business practices. The second group provided valuable firsthand accounts of the misconduct at issue, as well as on-the-record testimony.
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